INFJ Strengths and Weaknesses

INFJ Strengths

Creative – Combining a vivid imagination with a strong sense of compassion, INFJs use their creativity to resolve not technical challenges, but human ones. People with the INFJ personality type enjoy finding the perfect solution for someone they care about, and this strength makes them excellent counselors and advisors.

Insightful – Seeing through dishonesty and disingenuous motives, INFJs step past manipulation and sales tactics and into a more honest discussion. INFJs see how people and events are connected, and are able to use that insight to get to the heart of the matter.

Inspiring and Convincing – Speaking in human terms, not technical, INFJs have a fluid, inspirational writing style that appeals to the inner idealist in their audience. INFJs can even be astonishingly good orators, speaking with warmth and passion, if they are proud of what they are speaking for.

Decisive – Their creativity, insight and inspiration are able to have a real impact on the world, as INFJs are able to follow through on their ideas with conviction, willpower, and the planning necessary to see complex projects through to the end. INFJs don’t just see the way things ought to be, they act on those insights.

Determined and Passionate – When INFJs come to believe that something is important, they pursue that goal with a conviction and energy that can catch even their friends and loved ones off guard. INFJs will rock the boat if they have to, something not everyone likes to see, but their passion for their chosen cause is an inseparable part of their personality.

Altruistic – These strengths are used for good. INFJs have strong beliefs and take the actions that they do not because they are trying to advance themselves, but because they are trying to advance an idea that they truly believe will make the world a better place.

INFJ Weaknesses

Sensitive – When someone challenges or criticizes INFJs’ principles or values, they are likely to receive an alarmingly strong response. People with the INFJ personality type are highly vulnerable to criticism and conflict, and questioning their motives is the quickest way to their bad side.

Extremely Private – INFJs tend to present themselves as the culmination of an idea. This is partly because they believe in this idea, but also because INFJs are extremely private when it comes to their personal lives, using this image to keep themselves from having to truly open up, even to close friends. Trusting a new friend can be even more challenging for INFJs.

Perfectionistic – INFJs are all but defined by their pursuit of ideals. While this is a wonderful quality in many ways, an ideal situation is not always possible – in politics, in business, in romance – and INFJs too often drop or ignore healthy and productive situations and relationships, always believing there might be a better option down the road.

Always Need to Have a Cause – INFJs get so caught up in the passion of their pursuits that any of the cumbersome administrative or maintenance work that comes between them and the ideal they see on the horizon is deeply unwelcome. INFJs like to know that they are taking concrete steps towards their goals, and if routine tasks feel like they are getting in the way, or worse yet, there is no goal at all, they will feel restless and disappointed.

Can Burn Out Easily – Their passion, poor patience for routine maintenance, tendency to present themselves as an ideal, and extreme privacy tend to leave INFJs with few options for letting off steam. People with this personality type are likely to exhaust themselves in short order if they don’t find a way to balance their ideals with the realities of day-to-day living.

Wow!! I am now impressed with the psychology science. Can't believe you can read people or classify them with such accuracy. I can't agree more and the last point in weaknesses is the most truthful one. You must develop habits to keep up with the reality and followup your goals. What I love about this article, is the use of "Goal" where most articles out here use the word "Dream" so often. I always believe that I have a goal or goals (An ultimate goal and some checkpoints in the path that I have to pursue in order to reach it). Never used the word "Dream" even in my thoughts. Love this article and the website in general. Great resources and insights about oneself. Hands up to you guys for this top-notch work.

And this is so true! The strengths listed here are actually why I can draw so much respect from my peers even if I barely even know them. And the weaknesses hold some truth as well because I always feel put out and have the urge to keep fighting for my point whenever people criticise or negatively respond to whatever I say. Yes, I respect their opinions and their views, but I feel as if their criticism is a direct insult to my intelligence and thoughts. However, I can understand when I'm wrong and understand when an idea simply won't work, and I can also control my emotions so I won't get so...offensive or hostile. It's mostly that I become deadly silent when people insist that they're right. Does that make sense? I'm also a very private person and cannot stand people going through my things even if they have my permission. Like, I give them permission to, I don't know, retrieve a pen from my pencil case, but then they're just about to touch the pencil case and I change my mind, even if there is nothing to be ashamed about inside the pencil case. I also consider perfection being an essential thing to my creative works. I will spend hours (or maybe even days) on something if I see the potential. However, because I never allow anybody to critique my work (due to shyness and lack of confidence in the idea, one of the two but mostly the first), I can never find ways to improve my work and, therefore, I leave the idea be because there isn't any more potential in my eyes. I can make the most creative and amazing ideas and then stop working on it when it seems like a lost-cause or, in my eyes, lacks any more potential of becoming something that could identify me and my personality, et cetera.

I agree with the first point about critics, Whenever I enter a debate (any kind of talk that lead to a change of ideas and thoughts) and the other side tends to deny my point of view or simply ignore it and keep preaching their point or ideas. Whenever I have this situation, I keep silent for the rest of it and let them finish, think of something very powerful to say at the end so can keep the talk smooth. But I don't lie if I admit that I have a disappointment in what the other side is saying and how he think espicially if doesn't make any sense based on what he claims his opinion is built on. But when I find myself wrong I can admit it and accept it then add it to the list of my principles, information or anywhere I see it fit.
About the last point about perfection, It's very right and scary sometimes if you don't release it about yourself. Seeking perfection on what you do can be very harmful to your goals and that's why I love the idea of working with teams of different personalities because they can do stuff that you can't. In a team, the sense of perfection helps to keep the quality of what we are working on. But the strange thing is how I decide on things that I can let others work on and the things that I keep to myself exclusively and be so protective of them. I have ideas that I sacrifice and allow others to put their touch on them so I can take them off my shoulders and help myself advance to the next checkpoint while keeping the road firm and perfect to a certain allowed degree :).